Day Twenty-eight from Melissa - Bank Holiday

So today is a bank holiday. You should have seen them - the streets were full of partying banks. 

I'm kidding, of course. But it was a bank holiday, and as a result most places were closed.  

Miriam found a hot air vent. I almost couldn't coax her away from it. 

So we went back to the National Gallery to catch the things I'd most wanted to see. 

Folks, I have now seen Da Vinci paintings in two countries. 

Wow, that makes me sound accomplished. 

I've seen this painting on the Wikipedia page for ages. I never thought I'd actually get to see it!  Actually, he painted two, almost-but-not-quite identical. The other is in the Louvre, so we'll have to see it when we go. 

This next is one of my most favorite pieces of art anywhere. It's also a Da Vinci, called a cartoon because it's a rough sketch designed to be transferred to a canvas and painted on. This one was never transferred or painted, so the original detail still shines through. 

It portrays Mary sitting on her mother's lap. I'd always pictured it as a smallish size painting, but it's actually roughly the same size as the other one, minus the rounded part at the top. 

Then after all that, we went to see an LDS performer act on stage. I'll give you a hint. You've seen her in LDS films.

Not good enough?  Well, I'll tell you. 

The woman who plays Mary the mother of Christ in the new LDS Bible videos is an accomplished British actress. She plays Glinda in Wicked over here. Actually, she broke her foot a few weeks ago and just returned to the part. She was very, very good and I enjoyed watching her. 

That is the stage, curtain down. If you look carefully, you can see a big dragon over the stage. For the entire first act, there was a long streamer hanging from its mouth, stuck somehow. It fluttered in the breeze inside the building and generally drew attention. It didn't detract from the performance, but it was occasionally distracting. I enjoyed watching it, waiting to see what would happen. 

At intermission a crew member came out with a very long pole with some kind of tape on the end. He fished for the streamer, got it stuck on the tape, and pulled it free. The entire theater broke into applause and cheers!  I don't think he anticipated that response, but he took it gracefully and bowed as he left the stage. 

So that was our day!  Not particularly crammed with events, but it was nice to slow down a little.